Clean Air Act

Previewing Next Week’s Climate Change Arguments in the U.S. Supreme Court

Big Stakes and Big Players in This Year’s Biggest Environmental Case

On Monday, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the biggest environmental law case of its current Term, Utility Air Regulatory Group v. EPA. Legal Planet colleagues Ann Carlson and Dan Farber have already posted their thoughts on the case. Let me add mine. Utility Air Regulatory Group involves EPA’s authority to regulate stationary …

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What Are the Possible Outcomes in U.S. Supreme Court Greenhouse Gas Case?

Court likely to rule in favor of EPA

Next Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Utility Air Regulatory Group (UTAG) v. EPA.  I’ve previously described what is at stake in the case here and here and, in the interest of full disclosure, helped author a brief in support of EPA’s position.   The oral arguments might begin to reveal how …

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More Musings on the Cert Petition Grant in the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Case

Does Regulating Greenhouse Gases Lead to Absurd Results and What Happens Once the Court Rules?

In follow up to my early morning post of this morning, here are a couple of additional points. 1)  A related but different argument petitioners are making about why the PSD provisions don’t apply to the regulation of greenhouse gases is that the application of the provisions would lead to absurd results.  The absurd results …

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The Bush Ozone Standards and the D.C. Circuit

In an unsigned opinion released today, the D.C. Circuit largely upheld the Bush Administration’s revision of the air quality standard for ozone.  The opinion can safely be described as dull reading, but it provides some guidance to EPA about the current round of standards revision that is now underway. The law requires EPA to set …

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EPA and the social cost of carbon

This is Part I of a two-part series of posts discussing Eric Posner’s critiques of the role of cost-benefit analysis in climate regulation.  The social cost of carbon (SCC, for policy wonks) represents the cost, in today’s dollars for the harm of emitting a ton of carbon dioxide equivalent gas into the atmosphere. Recently, the …

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The Long, Slow Path to Improved Air Quality Standards

The regulatory process can be slow and tortuous. Consider the case of air quality standards. Since 1997, EPA has had separate air quality standards for fine particulates, technically called PM2.5.  These tiny particles can penetrate deep into the lungs, making them a special public health concern.  EPA has revisited the standard twice, in 2006 and …

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Lots of Rhetoric, Not Much New in Obama’s Climate Plan

The Obama Administration just released a “Climate Action Plan” to accompany the speech the President will give this morning at Georgetown University.  I applaud the President for delivering a speech devoted exclusively to climate change.  But for all the hooplah surrounding the President’s speech as “major,”  the measures he’s proposed in the new plan  to …

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Supreme Court Grants Cert. in Interstate Pollution Case

The Supreme Court agreed this morning to review a D.C. Circuit opinion that had struck down EPA’s effort to curb interstate pollution.  This is welcome news.  As I wrote when the lower court ruled: Now that I’ve had a chance to read the lengthy opinion in EMR Homer City Generation v. EPA, I’m struck by …

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Time May Run Out on Obama’s Most Powerful Climate Change Tool, Environmental Groups Threaten Suit

President Obama has a surprising amount of power to reduce greenhouse gases from the two largest categories of emitters, the transportation and electricity sectors, without getting Congress to act.  He has already used that power to dramatically tighten fuel economy standards for passenger autos.  But his ability to reduce emissions from the electricity sector — …

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What Can and Should the President do About Climate Change Without Congress?

President Obama made clear in his State of the Union that he would do everything within in his power to combat climate change even if Congress refused to go along.  Here are his words:  I urge this Congress to pursue a bipartisan, market-based solution to climate change, like the one John McCain and Joe Lieberman …

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